Erika and I were going to wake up at 6 this morning to do a workout video, but both of us slept past our alarms. The next time I looked at my phone it was 7:08am and we were supposed to be ready to go in ½ an hour! So I popped out of bed and woke up Erika and we got ready pretty quickly. Mrs. Birner was picking us up at 7:45 to take us to the Kaunda Square school. This is one of the schools where we’ll be doing some teacher training sessions. Mrs. Birner was going there to give a presentation to the students about America. We got to see the school building and meet the teachers and came up with a tentative plan for our first in-service training. We don’t have dates figured out yet but we need to get into a routine with our own schedules first and also talk to Matero school so we can coordinate meetings with their teachers as well.
These schools are funded by donor money, I believe through the Hoenecke fund. Most of the children at these schools are orphans or only have 1 parent, so it’s amazing to see how these schools are a blessing to their neighborhoods. The head teacher commented on the lack of space the school has, and the fact there is only 1 toilet for all the students. Despite conditions that most Americans could most likely never fathom, these teachers and students at this school were SO respectful and seemed quite happy. They were happy to welcome us and said that Erika and I are no longer strangers, but friends! So nice. It really makes you take a step back and thank the Lord for the blessings, particularly in education that we have in the United States. It opens your eyes a lot and makes you realize that we should never take for granted the many wonderful things God has given us. And it also gives me the desire to want to help those people who don’t have all the things that we do.
After visiting Kaunda Square, Dee had a cooking class that she does with all the wives right across the courtyard in the kitchen. We wanted to go and observe just so the wives become more familiar with us and also to see if we could gauge how much English some of the wives know. It was fun hanging out with them. They were learning to make fritters, which are pretty much like fried donuts: flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, water and then fried in oil until golden brown. 2 of the ladies were the bakers of the day and got to do all the mixing etc., although Anne did help them out a ton. They turned out wonderfully, and we all got to have a sample. Dee’s thoughts were that if these ladies knew how to make the fritters (and most of them do already), they’d be able to make some on their own and maybe sell them to earn a little extra income. Anne is pretty famous for her fritters and made them quite frequently last year for Abby and Tammy, so we’re looking forward to that—we heard she also makes some delicious ones with cheese inside them! Mmmm!
The afternoon was spent reading our books and laying out in the sun. We also went over to the press to print the worksheets we had made for Monday, and our teaching schedules. Since it’s been a lazy afternoon, I felt guilty and decided to do some work. I took out the 2 curriculum books I brought with me and started typing up ideas for the teacher training meetings we’ll be doing. I’m using my Primary Curriculum book, and figured talking about literacy would be a nice, broad subject but also applicable because most of these children are probably just starting to learn English. It’s hard knowing how practical the things we’ll be telling them will be, but if nothing else it will give them food for thought.
Today was probably one of the cloudiest days we’ve had since getting here. I’ve been thinking it’s going to rain soon, but so far it hasn’t. It’s still in the mid-80s though. Every day has been really sunny and warm, with usually an afternoon shower or two which cools things off, but then right back to being sunny and warm. J Definitely loving this weather rather than all the snow days I see being posted about on Facebook!
We ended the day with a nice relaxing stroll around the “block” before supper, a delicious meal of chicken, rice, pumpkin, and potato salad, a few episodes of Friends, and some more reading.
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